Chinese Vice-Premier Li Lanqing said Wednesday in Moscow that China and Russia had kept close high-level exchanges and such bilateral cooperative mechanism was very effective.
Li made the remarks in his meeting with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov during his official visit to Russia.
The existing mechanism has played an important role for the further growth of Sino-Russian partnership of cooperation, he said.
Li noted that China and Russia were celebrating these days the first anniversary of the signing of the Good-Neighborly Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between the two countries, and the presidents of the two countries had exchanged congratulatory messages on the occasion. "The signing of the document has injected great impetus to the development of our bilateral ties," Li said.
Li conveyed greetings from Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji to Kasyanov. Premier Zhu expected Kasyanov to visit China again in the upcoming August in Shanghai for the seventh regular meeting of the two prime ministers, Li said.
Kasyanov, in return, asked Li to convey his regards to Premier Zhu.
During the visit, Li and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Valentina Matviyenko will co-chair the third session of the Sino-Russian Cooperation Committee of Education, Health, Culture and Sports. Li said such a meeting is aimed to implement the wide consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries and prepare for the upcoming regular prime minister's meeting.
"The committee will carry out efficient and concrete work for the long-term good neighborliness and friendly cooperation between our two countries," Li said.
Kasyanov hailed the role played by the treaty, saying that the document has demonstrated the active growth of bilateral ties and helped uplift these ties to a new phase.
He said that Russia was satisfied with the work by all relevant committees under the current mechanism and believed the Russian-Chinese cooperation in education, health, culture and sports was important for the further promotion of the traditional ties of friendship between the two countries.
(People's Daily July 18, 2002)
